Candied Bacon - Part 2

Sorry readers, for the gap in blog posts. You'd think I wouldn't have blog-burnout after only one day. But, academic and family responsibilities got in the way. That did not, however, keep me from all things food.

First, congratulations to Philadelphia chef Jose Garces, winner of The Next Iron Chef. I hadn't watched much of the show until the finale, but Garces is an excellent chef. I've been to three of his restaurants (Amada, Distrito, and Village Whiskey) and have been impressed by all of them. Distrito is one of my favorite two restaurants in Philly for its tapas style Mexican street food. In fact, it looked like he made two dishes right off the Distrito menu in his final Iron Chef competition - one of the huaraches and the carnitas taco.

Second, I was in downtown Philadelphia yesterday (Rittenhouse Square) and stumbled upon (not literally) DiBruno Bros. gourmet grocery store (I went to the 18th and Chestnut location, but they have several). I had never been there before, but it is awesome. You must go if you are downtown, as they have an extensive collection of cheeses, meats, olive oil, and prepared food. I picked up some truffle butter and truffle honey for the Thanksgiving extravaganza I am preparing (more on that later).

Third, I ate breakfast at Parc with my wife and my mother-in-law (which is why I was in Rittenhouse). This was my second breakfast meal there in the past 2 months, because I took my mom there for brunch in October. (I really need to go back for dinner). The food and atmosphere are great. In fact, I've never been to Paris, but I expect it to look like Parc, complete with naked ladies in the men's bathroom. As for the food, I would recommend the brunch menu over the breakfast menu. For brunch I had the steak and eggs, which were spectacular. For some reason, though, it's not on the regular breakfast menu. Disappointing. I did have the breakfast sausage this time, though, and it was awesome. (You'll soon learn that sausage is one of my favorite foods. . . . Go ahead, get the jokes out now!).

Well, on to the issue at hand. When I left you last, I said I think I had developed a good way to present the candied bacon. Well, I'm back to ease your suspense . . . candied bacon pretzel rods! My wife (need to give her a blog nickname . . . "Mrs. Real Job"?) had the good idea to wrap them around pretzel rods. I thought this was a great idea, as it would enhance the salty/sweet flavor and provide a convenient way to present them. I really like how they turned out, both in presentation and in taste, though some of my friends give them mixed reviews.

Here's what they looked like. The trick is to cook the candied bacon about 2/3 of the way and then wrap them around the pretzels. Finish cooking until the bacon is crispy and just let dry on a drying rack. (You may have to adjust the bacon to make sure it stays tight and sticks to the pretzel). Anyway, let me know your thoughts.





Okay, well, that's the scoop on candied bacon. I think it was a very successful kitchen experiment. It's not that hard, and it elicits fun reactions from friends and family.

I now must move on to Thanksgiving. I'm going to have the first post later today, and then I'll try to keep you updated tomorrow with the results of the feast. To good food . . .